


Look At The Trouble We're In

by BlueHoneyBee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, But likes it when Emma calls her Regina, F/F, G!P, G!P Regina, Girl!Peen, High School AU, I tried?, It may not be great whoops, Regina is a 'bad girl', She goes by Roni, Smut, Starts with Emma breaking up with Killian, There is Killian/Hook bashin in this fic, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-03 14:02:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueHoneyBee/pseuds/BlueHoneyBee
Summary: Regina "Roni" Mills is the resident bad-girl at school. When Emma finally breaks up with Killian, they both decide it's time to make a move on the girl they've crushed on for four years - each other.Mildly based on the song "Animals" by NickelbackWARNING: THIS IS A G!P REGINA STORY





	Look At The Trouble We're In

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Look at the Trouble We're In - [ Art ]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820740) by [RedDove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedDove/pseuds/RedDove). 



“Morning love.”

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head before the Irish boy even got through the greeting. If she slammed her locker door a little harder than necessary, he was too clueless to notice.

“Killian.” She groaned. “I thought I made myself pretty clear when we talked. I don’t want to date you anymore.”

“I know you said that, but I was thinking…”

“Oh no.”

“You seemed quite off when you broke up with me.”

“I did?”

“So I went over to the station to have a chat with your father…”

Emma slammed her head against her locker door and let out an animalistic groan, akin to a perturbed jungle cat.

“…And he said you were on your…uhm…uh…you know…your…monthly-”

“WOAH.” Emma cut him off, ready to knock his teeth out for more reasons than one. “Stop. Just. Stop talking. Right now.”

“Oh dear, are you still on it?”

“Three things. One:  _ gross.  _ Two: That was two weeks ago, not last week…”

“Really I thought you just said that because you weren’t in the mood to-”

“ _ And three. _ ” She cut him off, getting more and more pissed as he spoke. “Why in the  _ hell  _ would you go talk to  _ my dad  _ about this?”

“Well…Because…I always go to him for advice on wooing women.” He said with a shrug.

“You do realise how weird it is to get dating advice from your girlfriend’s dad, right?” she asked.

“Is it?”

Emma didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or pity the boy with negative twelve game that stood in front of her.

“Killian, I’m going to try and say this in the nicest way possible. I  _ really  _ don’t want to date you anymore. For several reasons, none of which have anything to do with my menstrual cycle.” The blonde said in as gentle a manner as she could muster.

“Emma!” Killian chided, turning and looking around to make sure no one was listening. “Don’t say that out loud, someone might hear you!”

“Hear me say what? Menstrual cycle?!” Emma rolled her eyes. “It’s a biological process, Killian, not the code to the vault!”

“What vault?”

“Jesus Christ.” Emma groaned. If she thought first period math was bad, she  _ fucking prayed  _ for it now.

“Why don’t you want to date me anymore Emma? I thought things were going well. I took you to that nice burger place outside of town!” He said as if he were trying way too hard to sell a vacuum cleaner. “I even did the romantic thing and ordered for you!”

“Okay, first of all, I don’t understand who in their drug-addles and clearly not right at all mind thought that depriving a woman of her choice in which meal she eats at a restaurant was romantic. But news flash, this isn’t the sixteenth century anymore, so it’s not…”

“Well I just thought-”

“ _ Second of all. _ You took me to the best burger place in the whole state…”

“I thought you liked burgers!”

“And then tried to order me a  _ salad. _ What person with full use of all their brain cells goes to a burger place for a salad?” Emma asked rhetorically.

“Well…don’t you want to watch your figure?” Killian asked hesitantly. Emma glared at him.

“Killian, you’re a nice guy. But, and I’m sorry I have to say this, You bore me to tears. You have no backbone, you have no idea what fun is. You dress like a bad boy but frankly it’s just…false advertising! You get dating advice from the  _ Sheriff  _ for God’s sake…And you’re a  _ wimp!  _ You jumped into my lap watching  _ Jaws  _ I mean…I have to be honest I thought you were totally different when you asked me out. You know…a lot more exciting.” She finished with a sigh.

“But I took you to the carnival…” he whined like a kicked puppy.

“You were scared of the Ferris wheel.” Emma sighed. “And the reptile exhibit-”

“They had a crocodile!”

“And the hall of mirrors! Your own  _ reflection  _ Killian! Not to mention you refused to let me play whack-a-mole!”

“What did those poor unsuspecting moles ever do to you?” Killian asked. Emma gaped at him.

By the grace of god (or it could have been Satan, she wouldn’t have minded or cared at that point.) The bell for first period rang, and she was duty bound as a highschooler to go to math class, which was currently the only better option than this conversation that didn’t involve a rope, a gun, or some horrible combination of the two.

“Bye, Killian.” She said, turning on her heel and walking away from the dumbstruck boy.

“Morning!” Ruby flanked her right and looped her arm through Emma’s.

“This morning can burn in hell” The blonde all but growled.

“Geez, who let the bitch out?” Ruby teased.

“Ugh,  _ Killian. _ ” Emma groaned.

“Girl didn’t you break up with his sorry ass?” the brunette asked.

“It’s a long and ridiculous story.”

“Well we’re heading to math class, so it’s not like we’re doing anything important. Start from the beginning.” Ruby prompted.

“Okay, so last week…” Emma began the retelling of what she was starting to classify as her own personal horror story. What she didn’t realise was that a certain blonde classmate was within earshot of the conversation.

* * *

“Hey Roni!” Robin waved at her as the brunette sat on a bench under a tree in the high school parking lot, a cigarette balanced between her lips.

“What’s up, Locksley?” she waved at him. He jogged up to her and gave her a friendly smile.

“My father’s asked if you’ll work the bar this Saturday night.” He said. “Will was supposed to do it but he said he’s got uh…Scarlet Fever.”

“You know that just means he has a hot date, right?” Roni raised a brow at the the British boy.

“Well yes, but…”

“But you feel sorry for him because he gets less dates in a year than we got total-darkness eclipses in a lifetime.” Roni said, lighting the cigarette and taking a drag, blowing the smoke in his face. He waved it away with mild annoyance.

“Exactly.”

“Fine. But if I get a hot date I’m bringing her and giving her free drinks.” Roni said.

“Uh…well…”

“Do you want your star bartender or not?” The brunette shrugged.

“Well I suppose a few drinks won’t hurt…”

“Exactly, tell Papa L I’ll be there at seven PM.” Roni said, blowing another smoke cloud in his face to make him go away. He waved the smoke out of his face and left.  _ Thank God. _

She leaned back on the bench, the old, worn planks of wood creaking as she did, and took a long drag of her cigarette, opening her book on the marked page and continuing to read. She liked the peace and quiet this spot afforded her, away from all the boys that thought they had a chance with her if they tried hard enough, and the girls she’d been into briefly that still expected her to call even after weeks of no contact. Or the teachers that thought there was any chance of convincing her to actually show up for class like they weren’t all too terrified of her mother to tell her that her daughter had been doing poorly or not attending class. She passed all her tests anyway, so it wasn’t exactly true, she just preferred to make better use of her time than sit and become a zombie.

It was easy to lose track of time as she became engrossed in her story, and what pulled her back to reality wasn’t the bell to dismiss first period, but the elastic hair tie that was suddenly shot at her, hitting her in the back of the neck.

“Ow!” she exclaimed, rubbing the quickly reddening spot and looking around.

“Regina.” Katherine said as she came up behind her.

“Katty.” Roni greeted back in the same tone, getting the blonde to roll her eyes as she took a seat next to her on the bench.

“I thought I told you not to call me that.” Katherine said.

“And I thought I told  _ you  _ it was Roni now.” The brunette smirked at her victoriously.

“Are you still trying to piss your mom off with a name change?” the blonde asked.

“She rolls her eyes every time pop calls me that, so it’s obviously working.” Roni shrugged.

“And I’m sure he’s fine with you calling him ‘pop’ instead of ‘dad’.” Katherine shook her head. “Cora is right, Henry does spoil you.”

“Someone oughta, and it sure as shit isn’t her.” Roni scoffed, flicking away the butt of her cigarette.

“Well maybe I can take a turn then - I have gossip.” Katherine smirked.

“Unless it’s something crazy or hilarious like the French foreign exchange student setting his shirt on fire again, I don’t think I care.” The brunette scoffed.

“People still call him ‘Lumiere.’” Katherine chuckled. “But no. It’s a break up.”

“And why do you think I’d give a damn?” Roni looked at her expectantly.

“Because the person who did the breaking up has been a blip on your radar for a while now.” Katherine gave her a Cheshire grin.

“Go on.” Roni humored her.

“Emma Swan.” Katherine dropped. Roni tried to act nonchalant about it, but her best friend since childhood couldn’t miss the way her eyes lit up when she heard her long-time crush was single again.

“The Sheriff’s girl?” she asked, pretending to have forgotten about her. “Wasn’t she dating Irish O’Boredom?”

“Key word being ‘was’.” Katherine shrugged. “Apparently she caught on to the fact that he wasn’t the bad boy he made himself look like, and the, quote, ‘wimpy, boring’ type isn’t her thing.”

“She actually said that?” Roni asked.

“She called him boring and a wimp.” Katherine shrugged. “Apparently she’s looking for a little more excitement in her life, and she said his supposed ‘bad boy’ look was false advertising.”

“Doesn’t he just wear leather all the time?” the brunette raised a brow.

“Indeed he does…Reminds me of someone else that I know.” The blonde said, glancing down at her best friend’s jacket. “Is that Italian?”

“Yeah, Zee got it for me from Milan, I-” Roni stopped talking and looked up at the blonde with a lofted brow. “You’re not thinking what I think you are.”

“Depends, are you thinking that I think you should totally make a move on the Swan girl?” Katherine asked.

“I  _ think  _ that you think I must be crazy if you think that I think you’re thinking that.”

“I think you should stop thinking and start doing.” Katherine smirked.

“I think we said the word think too much and now it just sounds weird.” Roni scoffed.

“Agreed.” Katherine nodded. “Emma is in your English class.”

“How do you know that?” the brunette asked.

“Because  _ I’m  _ in your English class.” The blonde rolled her eyes. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I think you’re giving me a headache.” Roni rolled her eyes as she got up. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” Katherine feigned ignorance.

“The merry old land of Oz, where do you think, Katty?” Roni gave her a teasing smirk. “Time to hunt some Swan.”

“How romantic.” Katherine faux-swooned before she got up, following her friend to their English class just as the first warning bell rang.

“So that’s it then, you just sent his ass packing?” Ruby asked when Emma had finished telling the story of her break up in hushed whispers over math and then a recap as they switched over their books at their lockers before they headed to English class.

“Yep.” Emma sighed in relief. “I am newly single, and it feels good.”

“You know what would feel  _ really  _ good?” Ruby said with a devilish grin on her face. “I mindless hookup.”

“No, honestly.” Emma shook her head. “I’m just so done with boys.”

“Who said anything about boys? We’re bi for a reason.” Ruby shrugged.

“Are you…coming on to me?” Emma narrowed her eyes at her friend, who promptly slapped her shoulder.

“Please you’ve been dating guyliner for far too long for me to trust your judgment.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “No. I mean you should totally flirt with someone on the lacrosse team. That redhead Scottish chick seems to know what she’s doing…or…hmm Oh! What about Mulan? She looks like she’s got secrets. The sexy kind. The kind that make you flood your panties just thinking about.”

“ _ Wow  _ you’re not holding back today.” Emma shook her head and laughed at her friends antics. “You sound like  _ you  _ want to sleep with all of these girls.”

“I do.” Ruby shrugged and flipped open her notebook. “They’re on my list!”

“Wait!” Emma grabbed the notebook. “Who the fuck is ‘Roni’?”

“You didn’t hear?” Ruby asked as she took her notebook back. “You remember that hot as hell Mills girl?”

“The redhead?” Emma asked.

“No, that’s Zelena, she’s in College now. I won’t travel across states for pussy Emma.” Ruby shook her head.

“I mean if it’s the right pussy...” Emma shrugged.

“I’m broke.” Ruby stated. “I’m talking about the one in our grade.”

“Regina.” Emma said, a small smile coming to her face.

“She goes by Roni now.” Ruby shrugged. “I heard it through the grapevine that she’s doing it to piss her mom off.”

“And she’s on your list?” Emma asked, trying to push away her jealousy. Sure, she’d had a crush on the girl since freshman year, but that didn’t give her any claim over the brunette, especially not four years later when they were seniors.

“Emma, do you even know me?” Ruby rolled her eyes. “If she’s hot and she’s single she’s on the list. I should put  _ you  _ on the list, but that’d just be weird.”

“Yes it would.” Emma nodded as they walked into class. “I feel like I haven’t seen Regina around in ages, does she still even go to this school?”

“Oh yeah, she just doesn’t come to class. She’s crazy cool.” Ruby shrugged. “And hot. Did I mention how hot she is? Ugh and that  _ leather _ .”

“Leather?”

“I would give my first born to have her do me in that Lexus.” Ruby sighed.

“Wait,  _ Lexus _ ?” Emma gaped at her best friend. “Where the hell have I been?”

“Dating the blandest of bland flavors in the galaxy?” Ruby teased. “ _ You  _ could use someone like Roni.”

“Yeah…apparently.” Emma smirked to herself as they found seats in the back of the class where they could ignore the teacher.

“Too bad she doesn’t come to class, I’d love to have something yummy to stare at.” Ruby chuckled. “And, you know, I could be your wingwoman.”

“I don’t  _ need _ a wingwoman.” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Every girl needs a wingwoman. Especially if said girl has been dating mayo on white bread for the past few months.” Ruby teased.

“You’re never gonna let me live that down are you?” Emma sighed.

“ _ Nope.”  _ Ruby said, releasing a popping sound on the last ‘p.’ “It’s what you get for letting your dad get in your head about who you should date.”

“I just don’t want to complicate things at home. I’ll be going to college soon and then I’ll be free to do whatever I want without him and his overbearing ass.” Emma shrugged.

“Em, you gotta be yourself, screw what he thinks. Screw what this whole town thinks. It’s the 21st century! It’s 20-gay-teen! We should be having a year-long pride parade!” Ruby threw her arms up.

“Do you have a question miss Lucas?”

“Class hasn’t even started yet, why would I have a question?!” Ruby barked at the teacher before she put her arms down. Emma covered her face and tried not to laugh.

“You’re insane.” The blonde whispered to her best friend.

“You love my crazy ass.” Ruby said. Emma was just about to respond when someone walking in caught her eye.

Dark hair, tight jeans, a rock band T-shirt under a leather jacket. And when the aviator sunglasses came off, Emma had to remind herself to breathe.

Regina, or well, Roni, had just walked in.

“Holy shit.” Ruby whispered under her breath. “Speak of the sexy devil.”

“Yeah…” Emma said, trying to remember how to breathe. Just then Katherine must have said something funny, because Regina was laughing, and God, that laugh. “She could stab me and I’d be okay with it as long as she laughed like that.”

“You do realise you said that out loud right?” Ruby asked. “It sounded really gay.”

“Really gay is how I’m feeling right now.” Emma said.

“Hashtag same.” Ruby nodded, her eyes going back to the brunette in question, that Emma hadn’t stopped staring at just yet.

The last bell rang, signaling the start of class, and Roni and Katherine turned to look at the class to find seats. It was then that dark brown eyes met emerald green across the room. And she might have been having a stroke, but Emma was certain that Regina winked at her with a smirk.

“Am I having a stroke, or did she just wink at you?” Ruby asked.

“If you’re having a stroke so am I.” Emma said.

“Hey ladies.” A smooth, raspy voice said. Emma looked up and nearly melted when she found Regina looking at her with a smirk.

“H-hi.” Emma said nervously.

“Emma, right?” the brunette asked.

“Uh huh.” both she and Ruby answered. Roni raised a brow at the brunette sitting beside the blonde she was looking to flirt with.

“I mean…I’m Ruby, but you can call me Emma if you want it’s cool.” She grinned at the brunette.

“Way to not sound weird.” Emma rolled her eyes. “Sorry she’s just…Ruby.”

“Eh, I’ve met crazier.” Roni shrugged, the knuckles of her hand knocking against the backrest of the chair beside Emma. “Taken?”

“Hmm? Oh…uh…no.” Emma shook her head.

“Sweet.” The brunette smiled at her before she dropped her bag and shrugged her jacket off, revealing her bare arms - the rock-band t-shirt actually being a tank top. Katherine sat down next to her on the long desk that sat four people.

Emma looked at Ruby with wide eyes, and Ruby gave her an excited grin as Roni leaned back in the chair and lifted her knee, her heel resting on the edge of the chair as she lifted her arms up behind her head, her biceps flexing too close to Emma’s face for the blonde not to notice.

“Wow.” Emma blurted out.

“Hmm?” Roni smirked in her direction with a curious eyebrow lift, getting Emma to blush.

“I uh…nothing…sorry.” Emma stammered and focused too carefully on her notebook to seem chill about the whole thing.

“I box.” Roni said.

“Excuse me?” Emma asked. The brunette shrugged.

“In case you were curious.” She said. “I box. Once a week at least, usually twice.”

“Oh uh…cool.” Emma gave her a small smile and turned back to her notebook. She wasn’t particularly writing anything, she could tell the teacher had started to ramble on about something or other, but she wasn’t really paying attention. Usually she’d keep a hushed conversation up with Ruby, but with Regina, or well, Roni sitting beside her now, she was too nervous to talk.

The brunette had changed quite a bit from the ‘Head Bitch In Charge’ that Emma had met in Freshman year, but she still impressed the hell out of Emma, and the blonde still had a massive crush on her. She just didn’t think she’d ever get a chance. But now she was suddenly winking at her and asking to sit next to her? Trying to impress her with her exercise routine?

Either Emma was going crazy or ‘Roni’ was coming onto her.

“Are you busy Saturday?” she heard Katherine ask.

“Nope. Oh wait, ugh.” Roni rolled her eyes. “Scarlet bailed on Locksley’s dad, so I’m covering the bar.”

“For which I’m sure Scarlet will pay hell?” Katherine teased.

“Eh, he’s got a date for once in his life, I may cut him some slack.” The brunette shrugged. “You wanna pretend to be my date? I can give any hot date that I get free drinks. I feel like it’s limited to one girl though.”

“How disappointing.” Katherine rolled her eyes. “I’ll leave the spot free for some lucky lady you’re  _ actually  _ interested in. Text me if no one’s stepped up to the plate though, you know I never say no to free drinks.”

“I have a few drunk texts that can attest to that, yeah.” Roni chuckled.

“Hah, you should see what I sent Freddy the other weekend.” Katherine laughed. “Poor boy didn’t know what hit him.”

“I have a feeling I don’t want to know.” Roni chuckled again, the low, sultry rasp sending chills down Emma’s core every time.

“You’re free Saturday right?” Ruby asked.

“Huh?” Emma looked at her with confused, wide eyes.

“Saturday? So we can, you know, hang out.” Ruby gave her a look that said ‘play along dumbass.’ “I mean you’re single now so you probably don’t have a date?”

“Yeah, no.” Emma shook her head. “That’s me. Dateless. Free as a bird. Single Pringle and all that.”

Ruby groaned at her friend’s obvious fail, but Roni let out a soft chuckle and Emma couldn’t hate herself just then. Yeah, she had it bad.

What she didn’t see, of course, was the knowing look Roni gave Katherine, as if that had been the cue they were waiting for.

It took everything in her power for Roni not to actually fall asleep in class, and she was suddenly reminded why she skipped every single class on her schedule that wasn’t lunch. But eventually the dismissal bell rang, and she thanked god that that was over.

Teachers really needed to start getting vocal coaches. Droning helped no one learn anything.

Usually, she would have picked up her jacket and made a move to get out of that class like a bat out of hell, but then again usually, she wouldn’t have been in class to start with.

“So no date with Freddy Saturday?” she asked Katherine casually.

“Maybe, we haven’t talked about it yet.” The blonde shrugged. “Why? Got your eyes on someone?”

“Maybe.” Roni smirked, her eyes turning over to Emma who was packing up her stuff and made eye contact with the brunette for a second before she blushed and looked away. Roni got up and pulled her jacket back on, lingering a little to find her opportunity to make her move.

“I want to drink this weekend.” Ruby said. “Wanna go to the Rabbit Hole?”

“Ugh why, so Scarlet can make creepy passes at us?” Emma rolled her eyes.

“He’s not working Saturday.” Roni jumped in, casually sitting on the desk and leaning back so she was in Emma’s view. “I am.”

“You work the bar?” Emma asked with a small, shy smile.

“Like a pro, baby.” Roni winked at her. “There might be a free drink or two in it for you if you come over and say hi.”

Emma lifted a brow at her and smiled. “Oh yeah?”

“Well unless I get a date.” Roni shrugged, acting nonchalant. “The free drinks are usually saved for my dates.”

“Emma can be your date.” Ruby piped up.

“Ruby!” Emma groaned at her.

“Hey I’m game if you are.” Roni shrugged and flashed her a grin.

“You are?” Emma asked.

“Smooth as polished marble, Em.” Ruby teased.

“Shut up.” Emma growled under her breath at her.

“Oooh, feisty.” Ruby teased before she disappeared right in time to miss a foot that was about to slam on top of hers.

“Ignore her, we think she has a personality disorder.” Emma said.

“I heard that.”

“Good ears though.” Emma went on. Roni just laughed and shook her head.

“I’ve had my fair share of eccentric friends.” She said. “I won’t hold it against you.”

“Good.” Emma blushed a little and brushed a lock of blonde her out of her face. “So…Saturday?”

“Tell you what, I’ll leave it up to you. My shift starts at seven, if I don’t see you by nine, I’ll just figure you changed your mind and get Katty over there plowed instead.” The brunette bartered with a shrug, as if she couldn’t care either way. “Deal?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Emma nodded.

“See you Saturday then.” Roni nodded and stood up straight, looking her way again and giving her a wink. “Maybe.”

“Maybe…” Emma said under her breath as the brunette walked away, leaving her stunned.

“So? How’d we do?” Ruby popped up beside Emma again, making the blonde jump.

“Where the- how the hell do you do that?” the blonde demanded.

“I’m a ninja.” Ruby shrugged. “So, did it work? Are you getting some this weekend?”

“Maybe.” Emma shrugged.

“Maybe?  _ Maybe?  _ I did not act like a lunatic for  _ maybe  _ Emma Swan!” Ruby huffed.

“I’m sorry, you were acting?” Emma asked before she started walking out of class in time to hear Ruby gasp behind her.

“Don’t you sass me and then walk away! Get back here blondie!” Ruby chased after her friend, nearly knocking the hapless teacher on his ass in her rush to catch up to Emma.

* * *

“Maybe?” Katherine shook her head. “What if she thinks you’re not serious about it and gets discouraged?”  


“It’s called being aloof, Katty.” Roni said with a knowing smirk. “You act like you don’t care either way they’ll want you that much more.”

“It’s called being a dick.” Katherine shoved Roni playfully. “And if Freddy tried that before we started dating he’d still be single right now.”

“Acting desperate won’t exactly help either.” The brunette pointed out. “Isn’t that what you said happened with the unluckiest Irish boy to walk this planet?”

“From what I overheard from what Emma said to Ruby, he also acted like a misogynistic dick.” Katherine pointed out.

“God rookie mistake.” Roni shook her head. “You gotta at least  _ act  _ like you care if you’re looking for something long-term.”

“Yeah, because you know so much about long-term relationships.” Katherine scoffed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Roni stopped in her tracks, giving the blonde an offended look.

“I’m just saying, Regina, you’re not exactly a one-woman girl.” Katherine shrugged. “How many girls have you dated in the past year alone?”

“At least ten?” Roni shrugged.

“And how many of those were potentially serious?” Katherine asked.

“Roughly zero.” The brunette responded. “So what? Those girls were all airheads I’m pretty sure not a single one of them is  _ actually  _ into women. It’s just that I’m…well…you know, not exactly what everyone considers to be an ordinary woman.”

Katherine rolled her eyes. “Did you even try?”

“Did they?” Roni scoffed. “Or does it have to be me since I’m the one with the d-”

“Okay.” Katherine held up a hand to cut her best friend off. “I get it. Most girls see the money and the hot car and the devil may care attitude and think if they act easy they’ll get what they want.”

“Exactly.” Roni shrugged.

“What about Emma?” Katherine asked.

“What  _ about  _ Emma?” Roni asked back. Her blonde friend rolled her eyes.

“You have had your eyes on that Swan since Freshman year, don’t even try to deny it.” Katherine pointed a finger at her sternly. “Remember when Cruella wanted to do something god-awful and nasty to her?”

“It’s Cruella. She wants to do something god-awful and nasty to everyone. It’s why they nicknamed her ‘Cruella.’” Roni said with a pointed look.

“Fair point. But you don’t threaten to dump chlorinated water on her head and ruin her perfect platinum highlights for  _ everyone. _ ” Katherine said. “Alas, you certainly brought out the old ‘Evil Queen’ treatment on her for Emma.”

“Yeah well someone had to take Cru down a couple of pegs.” Roni shrugged.

“You’ve been crushing on her for four years, Mills, admit it.” Katherine said forcefully.

“Will you tell anyone if I do?” Roni narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

“You know I never spill your secrets to anyone.” Katherine gave her a look.

“Okay.  _ Fine. _ I’ve been crushing on her since Freshman year.” Roni shrugged.

“Good.” Katherine grinned at her. “Because a little birdie told me that she’s been crushing on you for just as long.”

“What?” Roni glared at her. “When did you find out?!”

“Just now.” Katherine shrugged.

“We’ve been walking together since English class, no one has stopped to talk to you.” Roni pointed out.

“No, but we  _ did  _ stop at my locker.” Katherine held up a slip of paper. “That thing is just a  _ hub  _ of information.”

Roni snatched the slip of paper and opened up the single fold, reading the note inside.

_ Confirmed: E.S. =C= R.M. _

“What the hell…is this code?” the brunette gave her friend a weirded out look.

“Yep.” Katherine nodded.

“How do you even do this?” Roni asked.

“I have my sources. My little spies are everywhere.” Katherine gave her a proud smile.

“Little spies? You mean your cheer team?” Roni gave her a look.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Katherine shrugged. “I can’t reveal my ways.”

“You know, you should skip college and go straight to working for the Kremlin.” Roni rolled her eyes.

“Aww, I’m flattered.” Katherine teased. “I’m guessing you’re skipping the next class?”

“Yep.” Roni nodded, already starting to walk away.

“I’ll come find you if I get any new intel.” Katherine called over.

“Whatever you say, Gestapo.” Roni teased with a faux salute.

“Dick.” Katherine called. Roni just turned on her heel, walking backwards while she gave her a nonchalant shrug and grin before she turned back around and walked out of the nearest exit.

* * *

“So you’re just gonna let her go with a ‘Maybe’?” Ruby asked for the millionth time in a hushed whisper in the Library. Emma groaned, earning her a shrill  _ shhhh  _ from the librarian.  


“She didn’t mean it like that.” Emma sighed. “Her shift starts at seven, she said if she doesn’t see me by nine she’ll figure I changed my mind and won’t show up.”

“Are you  _ crazy?! _ ” Ruby blurted out loudly as she suddenly shot up out of her chair, leaning over the table and in Emma’s face.

“Miss  _ Lucas!” _ the Librarian glared at her.

“Sorry.” The brunette called over to her. “Really intense…psychology project.”

Emma was glaring at her when she plopped back down in her seat. “You’re a really intense psychology project.”

“Quit flirting with me, we have a crisis!” Ruby hissed over at her.

“I wasn’t…why is it a crisis?” Emma asked defensively.

“ _ Because,  _ genius!” Ruby rolled her eyes. “Now, if you show up  _ before  _ nine, you’ll look desperate, but if you show up after you’ll lose your chance. You have to show up  _ at  _ nine. On the dot. Not a minute before, and not a minute later!”

“Or I could show up whenever I want before nine because I’m not a total loon like you?” Emma teased.

“I’m being serious!”

“I was worried you might say that.”

“Emma!” Ruby snapped.

“Miss Lucas, one more outburst and I will have no choice but to kick you out for the day!” The Librarian threatened.

“Sorry.” Ruby called back before turning to Emma. “What are we even doing in the  _ library  _ anyway?”

“You wanted to check out the Australian girl who always hangs out here.” Emma pointed out.

“Oh right, the only checking out I do in this place.” Ruby shrugged. “But I can’t even enjoy because of  _ your  _ game-less ass.”

“My ass has plenty game.” Emma pouted. “You’re being crazy about the time thing. As long as I show up by nine I’m good.”

“Or you’ll look like you want it too much and scare her off.” Ruby pointed out.

“Oh please.” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Let me give you a scenario. If you were in Roni’s place, and Killian was in yours, what do you think he would do?” Ruby asked.

“He would…” Emma groaned. “Be at the door before I even get there.”

“ _ Exactly. _ Desperation is  _ not  _ sexy. It’s like the opposite of sexy. It’s…it’s…”

“Not sexy?”

“There should be a better word for the opposite of sexy.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “We’ve been speaking English for centuries how have we not come up with that yet?”

“Maybe that can be your life’s work.” Emma shrugged. “After you help me pick out my outfit for Saturday that is.”

“Good idea.” Ruby nodded. “That is if you don’t blow your date on Saturday, otherwise being your wingwoman will have to be my life’s work.”

“You know, you’re not exactly helping.” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Of course you could  _ blow  _ your date on Saturday and-”

“Ruby.” Emma groaned. “Don’t be gross.”

“There is nothing gross about blowing Roni Mills.” Ruby said.

“There is something gross about  _  you  _ picturing  _ me  _ blowing Regina…ugh, I mean Roni. That name change caught me off guard.” She sighed.

“I’m sure she won’t care what you call her when her dick’s in your-OW!” Ruby yelped as a foot stomped down on hers.

“Miss. Lucas!” the librarian stood up.

“I dropped a book on my foot!” Ruby defended, getting an unconvinced eyebrow raise from the librarian. “Oh like it hasn’t happened!”

“Last chance, Miss Lucas.” The Librarian threatened. “I can’t have you distracting everyone. Try to be more like Miss French over there.”

Ruby’s eyes followed where the Librarian pointed and her eyes fell on Belle French, the quiet resident bookworm who you could always find in the library when she wasn’t in class. In a slight turn of events, the brunette actually looked up from her book and made eye contact with Ruby, who blushed as red as her namesake and gave the other girl a nervous smile before she sat down and tried to hide behind a book.

“Sorry.” She called over to the Librarian, who seemed satisfied with the turn of events and sat down, going back to her work. Emma raised a brow at Ruby and glanced over at Belle, who’s nose was already back in her book, before she looked back at her best friend.

“Dude, did you just fall in love?”

“Shut up.”

* * *

“So…” Roni took a drag of her cigarette as Katherine sat down beside her. Class had just let out for lunch. “You’re sure that note was about me and Swan?”  


“I am.” Katherine nodded. “If it were for anyone else it would have been coded differently.”

“You have code names for each person in this school?” Roni asked.

“I’m nothing if not thorough.” Katherine shrugged. “Come to the cafeteria with me.”

“Why?” Roni asked, scrunching her face in mild disgust at the idea.

“Because Emma will be there?” Katherine teased. “And the more you stay in her sights the more she stays focused on you. You did kind of give her an easy out to bail on you.”

“If she wanted to bail on me she wouldn’t have asked about Saturday.” Roni shrugged.

“You also need to eat at some point today.” Katherine said.

“Fair point,  _ mom. _ ” The brunette rolled her eyes.

“If I were your mother you’d be a lot more emotionally stable.” Katherine poked her side. “And you would never wear this much leather.”

“How does the leather tie into my emotional instability?” Roni asked.

“I’m not going to miss lunch to psychoanalyze you, Regina.” Katherine said. “Food. Now. Come on.”

“Ugh, fine.” Roni rolled her eyes. “You’re lucky I’ve got eye candy for dessert,  _ Katty. _ ”

“Exactly how you should refer to the girl you’re trying to be serious about.” Katherine rolled her eyes as they got up and started walking towards the cafeteria

“You’re still going on about that serious thing?” Roni rolled her eyes. “I don’t do serious.”

“Why not?” Katherine asked.

“That sounds a lot like psychoanalyzing me.” Roni teased.

“Call it morbid curiosity.” Katherine shrugged. “Why won’t you get serious with a girl who’s been crushing on you for four years? That sounds like a pretty big commitment to me, considering she’s carried that through another relationship.”

“See, why did she have to go through with that relationship? If she’s crushing on me she obviously didn’t like Jones that much.” Roni shrugged.

“Her father.” Katherine shrugged.

“The Sheriff?” Roni asked

“Apparently he’s a little conservative.” Katherine shrugged. “Killian is his goodie two shoes pet, goes to him for advice and all that crap.”

“Wow.” Roni rolled her eyes.

“You’re not the only one with pressure from your parents, Regina. She just deals with it by trying to make them happy until she leaves for college. You on the other hand feed off of pissing your mother off.” Katherine mused. “The way I see it, you’re in similar boats, just rowing differently.”

“Sounds like a lot of baggage.” Roni shrugged.

“Hah, you’re one to talk.” Katherine said. “Are you saying a girl with baggage isn’t dateable? Cause that’s…well…hypocritical at best.”

“Why are you so hell bent on getting me to be serious about this girl?” Roni asked. Katherine stopped in her tracks and turned on her, her bright blue eyes piercing into Roni’s soul.

“Because I know you and I know that you  _ really  _ like this girl. Genuinely like her. You’re just scared shitless that you’re going to get hurt. Again.” She said. “She’s not Danny, Regina. And everyone’s grown up a lot since then. It’ll be different this time. She likes you. I have a good feeling about you two.”

“Have you ever been wrong about a potential couple so far?” Roni asked.

“Nope.” Katherine shook her head, her long ponytail swaying behind her head. “I was right about me and Freddy. I was right when I said Jones wouldn’t be able to hang on to Emma for too long. I was right about Ashley and Sean.”

“Okay Ashley and Sean are like, Barbie and Ken! Everyone saw that coming.” Roni shrugged.

“I’m the one who introduced them in the first place. One guess as to why.” Katherine gave her a smirk. “I’m good, Regina, you can’t deny that. And I’m telling you now, you’re exactly what Emma is looking for. Literally. Specifically.”

Roni sighed and shuffled nervously from one foot to the other, unsure how to respond to this onslaught of advice mixed with information.

“Just give it a try?” Katherine asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to say that you at least gave it a try than let her go off to god knows where for college knowing you may never have that chance again?”

“Well shit, when you put it like that.” Roni rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll  _ try. _ But I’m probably gonna fuck up because I don’t know how to be serious to save my life.”

“Well that’s why you have me. I’m a beacon of wisdom. Now come on, I want to get something that isn’t mystery meat for lunch.”

“Ugh, ditto.” Roni made a face of disgust before she followed Katherine to the cafeteria.

* * *

“So what you’re saying is…”  


“Flicking your peas at a girl is not a good way to get her attention.” Emma said, giving Ruby back her spoon.

“It worked with Brad in the fifth grade.” Ruby crossed her arms.

“Key words being  _ Brad  _ who is a boy and  _ fifth grade  _ where pea flicking was more socially acceptable for our age group.” Emma said. “At eighteen, peas are solely for sustenance.”

“Well now I have a whole thing of peas and nothing to do with them.” Ruby shrugged.

“You could eat them.” Emma shrugged.

“You shut your whore mouth.” Ruby pointed at her sternly, getting her hand whacked with a plastic fork before Emma went back to eating her mac and cheese.

“Is that Roni?” a girl behind Ruby said, the brunette’s ears perking and looking up at the door in time to see the leather-clad bad-girl walk into the large cafeteria.

“Hottie, three o’clock!” Ruby said, getting Emma to look up.

“Roni?” Emma said as she spotted her.

“First class, now the cafeteria? Girl, she’s on the prowl, and you’re her prey.” Ruby smirked.

“Oh, shut up.” Emma flicked a pea at Ruby.

“Hey! I thought it wasn’t socially acceptable!” the brunette argued.

“As a flirting method. As a way to shut you up? Totally cool.” Emma said. “Now act natural.”

“What do you want me to do, howl at the moon?!” Ruby rolled her eyes. “I’m sitting down and sassing you out, that  _ is  _ my natural state.”

“Shut up!” Emma said.

“Hey, Swan.” Roni said from behind the blonde, making her nearly jump in her seat as she turned around.

“Oh, hey Roni.” Emma tried as smoothly as possible.

“Twice in one day, must be fate right?” Roni winked at her.

“You guys have gone to the same school for four years.” Ruby piped up, getting promptly kicked in the shin. “OW!”

“You okay?” Roni asked, giving her an eyebrow lift.

“Yeah I just got-”

“Cramps.” Emma piped up.

“ _ Dude!” _ Ruby glared at her.

“Oh.” Katherine piped up. “You know, I think that Australian girl who’s always in the library has ibuprofen. Apparently she keeps an emergency pack for whoever needs something.”

“Maybe you should go talk to her.” Emma gave her a pointed look.

“I uhhh…” Ruby looked at the three of them and then smiled at Emma. “I’ll go do that.”

She disappeared quickly and Roni gave Katherine a pointed look.

“Oh! I totally forgot I promised Freddy we’d do lunch. Sorry Regina!” she shrugged. “See you later.”

“Later, Katty.” Roni said, rolling her eyes at the blonde who walked away before she looked back at Emma. “Guess we both just got ditched huh?”

“Guess so.” Emma blushed a little. “Do you…want to sit?”

“Sure.” Roni flashed her a smile as she walked around the table and sat down across from her. “So, what’s up?”

“Crime rates in Massachusetts, apparently.” Emma said.

“What?” Roni gave her a confused look.

“Sorry…lame joke my dad does every morning…” Emma said, looking down at the table nervously.

“Oh.” Roni chuckled softly. “Yeah my pops likes to make lame dad jokes all the time.”

“Well, I guess we wouldn’t call them dad jokes if our aunts made them, right?” Emma said with a nervous chuckle.

“Guess not.” Roni gave her a soft smile and picked up a forkful of mac and cheese. The blonde bit her lip, trying to find an interesting point of conversation. She wasn’t usually this silent around boys. In fact when it came to boys she was the one who rendered them speechless. But when it came to Roni, she couldn’t seem to get a grip on her nerves.

“You okay?” Roni asked.

“Fine.” Emma nodded, kicking herself internally.  _ Great, Em, she thinks somethings wrong with you. _

“So, can I ask you something?” the brunette asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Emma nodded.

“I heard you kicked Jones to the curb, is that true?” Roni asked again, picking up a forkful of food and chewing slowly as she waited for the answer.

“Oh yeah.” Emma nodded. “He’s gone.”

“Mind if I ask why?”

Emma looked up from her plate and shrugged. “Cause he bored the shit out of me?”

“Yeah that’s what I heard.” Roni laughed.

“Word travels fast huh?” Emma raised a brow at her with a curious smirk. A thought popped into her head that made her suddenly less nervous and more excited about the fact that she was talking to the brunette.

“Katty’s got eyes and ears everywhere.” Roni said, her voice dropping down to just above a whisper like they were sharing secrets. “I bet that girl could pull off a jewel heist from the comfort of her bedroom if she wanted.”

“Cheerleaders?” Emma asked. Roni gave her a single nod and Emma nodded back in understanding. “So can I ask you something now?”

“Knock yourself out.” Roni shrugged.

“Is that the reason you asked me if I wanted to go out on Saturday?” the blonde dropped, catching Roni a little off guard.

“Is what the reason?”

“You heard about me dumping Killian…”

“God, even his name is lame.” Roni rolled her eyes.

“Is that why you asked me out?” Emma carried on.

“Well…I mean…” Roni gave a small shrug. “When opportunity knocks?”

“You open the door.” Emma gave her a lift of her eyebrow. “So my being newly single is an opportunity for you?”

“Did I cross a line or something?” Roni asked. Emma smiled at her softly and shook her head, pulling her lower lip in between her teeth as she took the brunette in.

“No. But I appreciate the fact that you asked.” The blonde said. “I’m just wondering cause I mean…you’re you. You can have any girl in this school.”

“I’ve already had a few if we’re being honest.” Roni shrugged.

“Exactly.” Emma nodded. “What are the chances that the school heartthrob is single at the exact same moment I dump my loser of a boyfriend?”

“Guess fate plays a hand huh?” Roni said with a flirty smirk.

“I have another theory.” Emma shrugged.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmhm.”

“Care to share?” Roni said teasingly, leaning closer to the table like they were plotting something heinous. Emma’s eyelids dropped a little as she gave the brunette a sultry smile that caught Roni a little off guard. The blonde pushed herself up and leaned over the table, her lips landing just over Roni’s ear.

“You like me.” She whispered to her. “You have for a while - at the very least you have the whole time I’ve been dating Killian. So the very second you heard he was gone, you decided it was your chance.”

“I…uhh.” Roni stammered. Emma let out a soft chuckle right into her ear before she dropped a kiss on her cheek and pulled away, sitting back down and leaving Roni dazed.

“It’s okay. I like you too. It’s hard not too, frankly.” Emma shrugged. “And I know that whole ‘maybe’ game was you trying to act like you didn’t care that much if I showed up or not. You wouldn’t be the first person who tried to play that game. Though I’ll hand it to you, you are the first person who I’m actually interested in playing with.”

Roni raised a brow at her and a slow smile crept across her face. “You wanna get out of here?”

“What?” Emma asked back.

“Come on, let’s go for a ride. I promise I’ll have you back by the time class starts if you’re that worried about it.” Roni said. Emma gave her a smirk, dropping her fork and grabbing her bag.

“Right behind you.”

* * *

Emma followed Roni out to the parking lot, where the brunette lead her right to the fanciest car in the lot, not that there were many of those scattered around. Still, the minute Emma saw the jet black Lexus reflecting in the sunlight, her eyes went wide.  


“Holy shit.” She blurted out.

“Yeah that’s what most people say when they see this baby.” Roni patted the hood of the car almost affectionately as she walked around it, pulling the passenger side door open and looking at Emma expectantly with a small smirk on her face. “Hop on in.”

“Well aren’t you the gentleman.” Emma teased.

“Chivalry ain’t dead yet, sweetheart, just gotta know where to look.” Roni winked at her before she slipped her sunglasses on. Emma smiled at her before she climbed into the car, taking a moment to admire the red leather seats with black trim while Roni walked around the car again and got into the driver’s side.

“This really is a sweet ride.” Emma said.

“Do you drive?” Roni asked.

“I have my license but, ugh, the old man won’t get me a car. I had my eyes on this yellow bug that I wanted to fix up. He says taking it to a mechanic would cost more than the car.” Emma rolled her eyes. “If he’d help me I could probably do it myself.”

“But he won’t, cause you’re a girl, am I right?” Roni guessed.

“He’s not a bad guy but God, he can be really sexist.” Emma rolled her eyes. “Anyway, enough about him. You said you were taking me on a ride, where to?”

“This nice little spot in the woods.” Roni said, turning the key and smirking as the engine roared to life. She backed out of the lot expertly before she turned the wheel and sped off out of the school’s street and onto main. She glanced over at the blonde sitting beside her who was grinning like a devil as she pressed down on the gas. “You’re not the little angel you look like, are you?”

Emma shifted her eyes on her, a devilish smirk on her face. “You have no idea, Mills.”

“Damn, Swan.” Roni said as she pulled a left and headed away from town, towards the woods.

She pulled over at a clearing and cut the engine.

“Is this it?” Emma asked.

“Come on.” Roni nodded towards the door as she exited the car, Emma doing the same and following her. The brunette hit the lock button on the key remote as she started walking up a path towards what everyone in town called ‘The Wishing Well.’

“You bring all the girls here?” Emma asked teasingly.

“Nope.” Roni shrugged. “Haven’t been here in years, actually.”

“Oh.” Emma gave her a curious smirk as she leaned up against the stone wall of the well. “What makes me different then?”

“Different?” Roni asked.

“You don’t just bring any girl to a spot you haven’t been to in years.” Emma shrugged.

“Yeah well.” Roni crossed her arms and leaned over the wall beside Emma. “You’re the first girl who didn’t act like a total airhead around me. In fact you read the situation pretty well back at school.”

“I was right then. You do like me.” Emma gave herself a sure nod. “Good.”

“Is it?” Roni smirked at her. Emma scooted closer to her and nodded.

“I told you, I like you too.” She smiled at her.

“So Saturday  _ was  _ a sure thing then.” Roni nodded. “I told Katty you’d find an out if you wanted to.”

“And I told Ruby she was being crazy when she said I had to get there not too early and not too late.” Emma shook her head. “She’s crazy.”

“I don’t blame her though.” Roni shrugged. “Everyone always plays games. You’re the first girl who had the guts to call me out on my shit.”

“I told you, you’re the first person I actually wanted to play the game with.” Emma said. “Usually, if they’re not falling over themselves for me, they’re not worth my time.”

“That’s how you end up with losers like Jones, baby.” Roni teased.

“Maybe you’re right.” Emma said.

“So, what makes me different then?” Roni asked. “Why was I worth playing the game with?”

“You’re you.” Emma said simply. “Ironically it seems we don’t need to play the game anymore.”

“We don’t?” Roni raised a brow at her. Emma leaned in towards her, close enough for the brunette to feel her body heat.

“You like me. I like you. Why play games when we both know what we want?” the blonde asked, Roni unable to take her eyes off of the other girl’s pink lips.

“Can I…” Roni was about to ask, but before she could even finish the question, Emma’s lips were on hers, and a second later she felt slender arms wrapping themselves around her neck and a hand cupping the back of her head to pull her closer. Her arms wrapped themselves around Emma’s hips and she pressed herself against the blonde in an effort to get as close to her as possible.

She felt Emma’s head tilt slightly to the side and her lips part, and took the opportunity to gently slip her tongue in between them. A move that seemed to be accepted by the blonde, given the small moan of approval she got from her.

They could feel the heat between them rising, and Roni could feel her pants getting just a little tighter at the front. She was just about to pull away when she felt Emma’s lips retreat by half an inch.

“God, Regina.” The blonde sighed. Roni smirked.

“No one’s called me that in a long time.” She chuckled softly. “At least no one besides Katty.”

“Shit.” Emma pulled away suddenly, getting an eyebrow raise from the brunette. “Sorry…I just…I only found out about the name change today.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Roni took her hand gently. “You can call me whatever you want, as long as you call me.”

The brunette winked at her, and Emma blushed, giving her a soft smile. “You don’t mind?”

“I like how it sounds when you say it.” Roni shrugged. “Makes me not hate it as much. I think I may start to like it again if you say it enough.”

“Oh…” Emma smiled. “Do you mind if I ask why you changed it?”

“Let’s just say I changed a lot, and I figured my name should change too.” Roni shrugged again. “Plus it drives my mother crazy, and I live for that.”

Emma chuckled. “Driving an overbearing parent crazy does sound fun.”

“How’d you know she’s overbearing?” Roni asked.

“Why else would you wanna push her button” Emma shrugged. “My dad drives me nuts sometimes, but he’s a good guy and he does love us he’s just a little dumb sometimes.”

“Why do you put up with that though?” Roni asked. “Love doesn’t mean shit if you’re doing it wrong.”

“That…makes a lot of sense…I just…Don’t wanna cause trouble.” The blonde shrugged again.

“And that’s why you dated Jones.” Roni nodded.

“I thought he was my type, just good at hiding it.” Emma said.

“Your type?” Roni raised a brow at her.

“I’m a bit of a sucker for the bad boy type.” Emma shrugged.

“Judging by that kiss earlier I’ll wager it doesn’t have to be a  _ boy.”  _ The brunette gave her a cocky smirk. Emma blushed a little and shook her head. She stepped closer to the shorter girl and gently grabbed the lapels of her leather jacket, pulling her closer as she leaned in until Regina could feel her hot breath on her lips.

“ _ You  _ are right up my alley.” The blonde said, her voice a low whisper. Regina smirked, tilting her head a little as she leaned in further, their lips almost touching and then-

Emma’s phone rang.

“Fuck.” The blonde groaned, letting Regina go as she reached into her pocket to retrieve the offending device. “What?!”

“Bitch, don’t ‘what’ me! You have five minutes to get to school before lunch is over. You owe me for warning your hoe ass.” Ruby barked into her ear. “Did you get your mack on with Roni?”

“Yes.” Emma answered simply.

“Proud of your hoe ass.” Ruby said calmly. “Get back here.”

“Thanks.” Emma said before she hung up and rolled her eyes.

“Was that Lucas?” Regina asked.

“I have to get back.” Emma sighed. The brunette rolled her eyes like she was being put out before she shrugged.

“Come on, I’ll take you back.” She said, taking a step towards the trail that would lead them back to her car.

“Wait.” Emma put a gentle hand on her shoulder to stop her. Roni raised a brow and looked up at her and Emma gave her a smirk before she turned to face her fully and gripped the lapels of her jacket once more, pulling her in and pressing their lips together in a deep kiss. Roni’s hands settled on Emma’s hips as she kissed her back with just as much fervor, savoring it for a long moment before Emma pulled away, smirking mischievously at the brunette. “I couldn’t let you walk away without doing that.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Roni said, pulling her sunglasses down just a little to give her a wink before pushing them back up her nose and taking Emma’s hand to lead her towards the car.

* * *

“Full details. Now.” Ruby said the minute Emma walked into school, a few minutes to spare to get her books and get to her next class.  


“Later.” Emma sighed. “I gotta get to class.”

“Bitch what part of ‘now’ do you not understand?” Ruby looked offended.

“How’d it go with Belle?” Emma asked. Ruby turned red and smiled like an idiot.

“Uh, fine? She’s…cute as hell.” She twirled a strand of hair between her fingers and  _ giggled.  _ “She asked if I wanted to have lunch together Monday.”

“What did you say?” Emma asked as she shut her locker and started walking towards her class

“I stammered like an idiot. But the gist of it was ‘yes.’” Ruby shrugged. “Oh shit, should I get her something better than cafeteria food?”

“You could get her something from Granny’s” Emma shrugged. “It definitely beats the cafeteria food. Or you could take her to Granny’s FOR lunch, way more romantic.”

“You think?” Ruby asked.

“Yep.” Emma nodded. “There’s my class. See you later.”

“Okay see you!” Ruby smiled at her and then frowned when Emma disappeared. “Hey wait a second, you sneaky bitch! Get back here!”

She snuck into the class and dropped down in the empty seat next to Emma.

“Ruby you don’t even go to this class.” The blonde said.

“I don’t wanna go to my real one either. This one comes with gossip.” Ruby shrugged. “Now give me the details.”

“Ugh, we made out, we talked, we made Saturday a sure thing. There really isn’t much else to say.” Emma shrugged.

“ _ Thank god. _ ” Ruby rolled her eyes. “That ‘maybe’ bullshit was giving me anxiety.”

“Why are you getting anxiety over  _ my  _ date?” Emma gave her a weird look.

“Because if you stay single until you’re thirty it’s my duty as your best friend to marry you. And bitch, your ass is way too high maintenance for me.” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“Says the girl who refused to come to school for a week because she ran out of hair lotion.” Emma scoffed.

“My hair looked  _ awful.  _ And the salon had run out of stock that week!”

“You had like three frizzy hairs.” Emma gave her a look. “And they were at the back, you probably just missed them when you conditioned.”

“Are you accusing me of being a sloppy conditioner?!” Ruby looked offended, again.

“Why are we even talking about this?” Emma rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know.” Ruby sighed. “How good is Roni at kissing?”

“God.” Emma gave her a dopey grin. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

“Wow.” Ruby scoffed. “You never got that reaction from kissing Killian.”

“Ugh, don’t compare the two.” Emma rolled her eyes. “There’s no contest anyway.”

“Of course not.” Ruby chuckled. “So, did you just make out, or did you talk?”

“We talked. The making out portion of the outing was actually only a very small part of it.” Emma said.

“So what did you talk about?”

“Not much.” Emma shrugged. “We made conversation for the most part, got to know each other a little better.”

“Oh god.” Ruby groaned. “Emma I think Killian’s rubbed off on you. You’re starting to get  _ boring. _ ”

“Shut up.” Emma hissed at her. “I’ve been crushing on her for four years I don’t wanna blow it now!”

“You’ve been crushing on her for four years, I’m surprised you didn’t blow  _ her  _ in the woods!”

_ Pinch. _

“Ow!” Ruby hissed, pulling her arms away from Emma. “See, you’re violent towards me because you need an outlet for your sexual frustration. It’s not healthy Emma. You need to get laid before you murder someone in cold blood.”

“I think I’m looking at my first victim.” Emma glared at her. “And of all the places to have sex with someone, the woods is  _ not  _  the place to do it. At least, not for me. I don’t know what the fuck you’re into.”

“A little public nudity never hurt anyone.” Ruby shrugged.

“Well I don’t roll like that.” Emma said.

“Are you a three dates kinda gal?” Ruby asked.

“Not necessarily.” Emma asked. “I had tons of dates with Killian and it never happened with him.”

“Thank god for that.” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“It just depends on the person I guess.” Emma shrugged.

“Are you saying you’d put out on the first date for Roni?” Ruby asked with a teasing smirk.

“Maybe” Emma shrugged.

“Yeah, you said that about the date and now it’s a sure thing.” Ruby teased. “Your ass is getting laid this weekend.”

The blonde scoffed and shrugged again “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

* * *

_ Saturday, 6:30PM _  


“So what’s the plan?” Ruby asked, scrolling through her phone as she laid on Emma’s bed, waiting for the blonde to emerge from her closet in her chosen outfit and stand judgement.

“Uhm I’m gonna go up to her and say ‘hi’?” Emma said with uncertainty. 

“Amazing Ems, I can already hear wedding bells.” Ruby rolled her eyes. 

“Don’t make it weird.” Emma warned. “It’s our first date, for God’s sake.”

“And your only plan is to say ‘hi’” Ruby rolled her eyes. “You have no game.”

“I made out with the girl, what else do I need to do? Lay on top of the bar naked and say ‘take me, I’m yours!’?” Emma grumbled, throwing a bra at Ruby’s head.

“Exactly like that, with the bra throwing.” Ruby said, flicking the garment off her head. “Leaves a hell of a bigger impression than ‘hi’”

“Said the girl who told me showing up a minute before 9pm would make me look desperate.” Emma rolled her eyes out of her best friend’s sight.

“Oh just shut up and come out of the closet already.”

“You’re going to burn in hell for that pun.” 

“Add it to the list of reasons I’m going to burn in hell.” Ruby shrugged “now come on! Show me what you got, Swan!”

“Way to make this not feel like a strip show.” Emma scoffed as she stepped out, dressed in a thigh length black leather dress.

“That dress doesn’t do much, cleavage wise.” Ruby commented.

“I know, but that’s a perk because my dad won’t have a reason to ‘veto’ it like he likes to try and do.” Emma rolled her eyes. “Besides, what it lacks in the front it  _ more  _ than makes up for in the back.”

“What?”

“This dress does beautiful things to my ass.” Emma said, turning around.

“Oh shit, you’re right.” Ruby said. “I almost wanna rest my face on it.”

“Weird.”

“Or see if I can bounce a quarter off of it.”

“Less weird, given that it’s you.” Emma turned around. “So?”

“Go with it.” Ruby nodded. “But like, wear something that’ll make it pop.”

“Like what?” Emma gave her a look.

“Liiiike….” Ruby drawled out as she put some thought into it. “Wear your red leather jacket, and match it with red pumps.”

Emma weighed out Ruby’s suggestion and then nodded. “Good plan.”

“I tend to have them from time to time.” Ruby smirked proudly.

“So, what are  _ you  _ wearing for your date?” Emma asked. “You never even told me how you even decided you had a date on Saturday.”

“Oh, I was texting Belle about how I had nothing to do and she just...asked.” Ruby shrugged.

“Just like that?” Emma asked with a fake gasp

“I know right? Who knew it could be so easy?” Ruby asked.

“Literally everyone but you.” Emma deadpanned. 

“Okay I think it’s a bit of a sweeping statement to say  _ literally  _ everyone.” Ruby rolled her eyes. 

“Well I can’t ask the populace of the whole world, Rubes, but I think it’s a safe bet to make that no one acts as crazy as you do when it comes to dating.” Emma shrugged. 

“Bitch you crushed on Roni for four years before you got the balls to ask her out. And I’m pretty sure she did most of the asking.”

Emma flipped her off. “So, what are you wearing?”

“Remember that cute little red dress you bought last month?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah?”

“That.”

“...You gonna ask to borrow it first?” Emma asked.

“Ugh fine, can I please borrow that little red dress you bought and never wore.” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“No.” Emma deadpanned again.

“Emma!”

“Oh I’m just kidding, knock yourself out.” Emma said, getting her bra thrown back in her face as a response as Ruby got up to raid her closet. 

“Emma?” a knock came on her door.

“Come in mom.” Emma said, her mother opening the door without hesitation. 

“Oh look at you all dressed up.” Mary Margaret gushed over her daughter. “That dress does wonders on your ass.”

“Mom!” Emma blushed.

“Oh my god.” Ruby cackled from the closet.

“Honey why is Ruby in the closet?” Mary Margaret asked. 

“I came out Freshman year god-dammit!” Ruby grumbled.

“The way you stared at me when you were twelve, there was no coming out necessary, sweetie.” Mary Margaret teased.

“I...I...uhh…” Ruby stammered, obviously blushing like a tomato in hiding.

“Okay,  _ gross _ .” Emma interrupted both of them. “Mom stop...whatever it is you’re doing with Ruby.”

“Oh I’m just teasing.” Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. “I just came in to tell you that your father is home, in case you need to put your jacket on before you leave the room.”

Emma sighed, giving her mom a small smile. Despite her father’s conservativity, her mother always had her back and made sure Emma could be a little bit more free, even if it meant keeping her secrets from time to time.

“Thanks mom, I think this dress should be acceptable.” the blonde said.

“Yes, I think it will.” Mary Margaret nodded. “Now, be honest, are you going to the bar?”

“Yes.” Emma said shyly. Mary Margaret nodded.

“Just be careful, okay? If you need to, call me and I’ll be there in a flash.” 

“Thanks mom.” Emma said again. “I should be fine.”

“Meeting someone special?” Mary Margaret said with a teasing smile. “I’m guessing this isn’t Killian.”

“No...I kinda broke up with him.” Emma shrugged. “Don’t tell dad though, you know he loves him.”

“Sometimes I wonder if they’re having an affair.” Mary Margaret joked.

“Gross.” Ruby and Emma said in unison. 

“Anyway, whoever it is, just be careful, okay?” Mary Margaret gave her daughter a gentle hug. 

“Love you mom.” Emma said.

“You too, sweetie.” Mary Margaret said, flashing her daughter a mirthful look before she called out. “You too Ruby!”

“I...uhm...uhh.” the brunette stammered. Mary Margaret chuckled and shook her head as she left the room.

“Way too easy.”

* * *

“Okay guys, we’re leaving.” Emma said, trying to avoid her father as much as possible.

“Well hey don’t I get to see my baby girl before she goes off doing God knows what.” David asked, getting up from his spot on the couch, clearly not seeing the roll of Emma’s eyes. “Where are you two even going tonight anyway?”

“Oh uh, just the movies, then the uhhh…” Emma looked at Ruby.

“Bowling alley.” Ruby ‘reminded’ her. “With our dates.”

“Right.” Emma nodded.

“So Killian will be there?” David asked.

“Yep, so you can rest easy knowing  _ no one  _ is having fun.” Ruby said, getting a glare from Emma.

“What?” David asked.

“She’s just kidding.” Emma elbowed the brunette. “You know how Ruby is.”

“Unfortunately.” David muttered. “How are you getting there and back?”

“Ruby’s driving.”

“In that red death trap?” David asked.

“Would you rather two women walk, out at night,  _ alone _ ?” Ruby asked.

“Well…”

“My baby maybe garish and old but at least she knows how to approach a woman without being creepy.” Ruby responded.

“I…what?”

“Nothing. Can we go please? We’re going to be late.” Emma said.

“Well…” David seemed to examine his daughter’s outfit before he sighed. “Fine, go, have fun.”

“Oh, we will.” Ruby gave him her best shit-eating grin as Emma opened the door and pushed her best friend out of the apartment.

“Don’t wait up guys!” she said.

“Emma.” David called sternly.

“Yeah dad?” The blonde said, popping her head into the room again.

“Eleven O’clock.” Her father said

“Ugh, are you serious?” she complained.

“Dead serious.” He said. She rolled her eyes.

“Fine.” She said, leaving without any further goodbyes and possibly slamming the door harder than necessary to close it. The girls left the building silently and Emma got into Ruby’s car before she let out an exasperated huff.

“He’s  _ such  _ a dick.” She complained.

“Breathe Em.” Ruby said gently. “Just, focus on your date tonight. You’ll graduate and be out of there in no time.”

“Yeah, I know.” Emma let out a breath and rested her head against the headrest of the seat.

“Want me to take the long way so you can chill out a little?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah, we’re still making good time.” Emma nodded. Ruby gave her a soft smile and nodded, turning around the corner and off of Emma’s street.

* * *

When 8:30PM rolled around, Ruby turned onto the street that housed The Rabbit Hole, Storybrooke’s resident dive where all the teens hung out and drank illegally, thanks to the resident kid who sold fake IDs from under the bleachers at Storybrooke High.  


“Okay, so you go in there, you walk up to the bar and you say ‘is that a bottle of scotch in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?’” Ruby said with a grin.

“No.” Emma said without hesitation.

“Emma! I’m giving you gold here!” Ruby complained.

“You’re giving me a one-way ticket to embarrassing myself.” Emma rolled her eyes. 

“Well, you can go with the ‘you come here often?’ line.” Ruby shrugged. “It’s a classic.”

“She  _ works  _ here.” Emma said. “And that’s a fact that I know. And if I didn't I would the second I saw her behind the bar.”

“You know what, if you’re just gonna shoot down every idea that I give you, you’re on your own.” Ruby crossed her arms. “Good luck getting laid without me.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I made out with her without you.”

“Dumb luck.” Ruby shrugged. Emma rolled her eyes again and leaned over to Ruby, giving her a kiss on her head. 

“Just go on your date with cute library girl and don’t worry about me, okay?”

“Okay.” Ruby nodded. “I’ll pick you up at ten forty-five.”

“Love you.” Emma said as she got out of the car. Ruby started up the engine again as she closed the passenger side door and stepped away, giving her best friend a wave before she walked into the bar.

She was immediately met with loud rock music making it nearly impossible to hear her own thoughts rather than anyone else. But she expected that, it wasn’t the first time she hung out in this bar, though it was the first time it was without Ruby. 

There were people at the tables drinking, and people dancing around to music. The place wasn’t full yet but it was still early, and most of the people around were kids who, legally speaking, shouldn’t even be here. In fact she recognized most of them from school and it kinda felt like she was walking into a weird class that involved booze.  _ If only. _

But through the small crowd of dancing rock-heads, she could easily make out the bar, and as she watched a bottle do a triple-flip through the air and then get expertly caught by a hand, she didn’t much more help finding the bartender, and her date. 

Brown eyes met hers across the room, and she gave her a small smile before she approached Roni at the bar.

“Look who finally showed up.” Roni teased. “I was worried you might have changed your mind.”

“And leave you dateless?” Emma teased back. Roni shrugged.

“Can I get you a drink?” the brunette asked. “What’s your poison?”

“Surprise me.” Emma winked.

“Letting someone else choose your drink? Bold choice.” the bartender said, sticking a toothpick in her mouth and leaning over the bar and closer to Emma. “You so sure you can trust me?”

“Maybe I’m just giving you a chance to prove yourself.” Emma leaned in, her eyes hooded and looking like she was coming in for a kiss, noting the eagerness in Roni’s eyes. But instead of giving the brunette a kiss, Emma simply pinched the other end of the toothpick between her teeth and pulled it out from between Regina’s, effectively taking it away from her before she pulled away.

“Damn.” Roni said as she raked her eyes over the blonde. “You may not wanna play the game Swan, but you’d make a hell of a player.”

“I know.” Emma winked at her again as she started taking off her jacket to reveal more of her dress. “So how about that drink?”

“You like Jack?” Roni asked.

“He’s a friend of mine.” Emma shrugged, getting a chuckle out of Roni as the brunette moved, picking up a bottle and a glass, filling it with a measure of the whiskey before she dropped ice into the glass and poured Coke over it. 

“You strike me as a bit of a classic.” she said as she handed the glass to Emma with a smirk.

“And  _ you  _ know how to read people better than I thought.” Emma said, taking the glass and taking a sip. “Mmm. And you sure as hell know how to mix your drinks.”

“Wouldn’t be the star bartender here if I didn’t.” Roni shrugged.

“I think that has less to do with your drinks and more to do with your arms.” Emma said, pointing to her tank top. Roni inspected herself for a moment before she shrugged and leaned over the bar again. 

“If people only came to me for my looks, you would have taken all my clientele tonight.” the brunette flirted. 

“They’d have to live with disappointment. I definitely only came here for one thing.” Emma said, leaning in with a smirk. 

“Oh yeah? Was it the Jack?” Roni jokingly pointed to the glass in Emma’s hand. 

“Another friend of his.” the blonde said with a slight shake of her head. “And I’m not talking about Captain Morgan either.”

Regina grinned at her as Emma leaned closer, and in the next second, their lips met in a slow kiss that quickly deepened as their mouths opened to take each other in. 

Both girls could feel the heat rising between them, and Emma had just reached over to pull Regina closer when she felt someone poking her back.

“What?!” she snapped at the guy who was looking her, suddenly wide-eyed.

“Sorry bro.” the boy said nervously. “I just...want a refill on my drink.”

“Here.” Roni said, grabbing the bottle of Jack that sat next to her and passing it to him. “Knock yourself out.”

“Bro thanks!” He said, the look on his face like that of a child in a store that sold candy AND toys, on christmas morning. “I will bro!”

He walked away and Emma rolled her eyes, giving Regina an expression clearly meant to mock the kid. “Bro!”

The brunette laughed and shook her head, leaning towards Emma again and giving her a soft kiss.

“You should get back to work.” Emma said softly, kissing her again.

“That’s hardly as fun as this.” Regina said.

“Do you get a break?” the blonde asked.

“Yeah in like an hour.” Regina said, looking at her watch.

“Perfect, I’ll be right here until then.”

The brunette smirked and kissed Emma again. “Wave if you want a refill.”

“What if I want you to kiss me again?”

“I like your style, Swan.”

* * *

_ One Hour Later… _  


The bar picked up pace pretty quickly in an hour - the actually legal locals started congregating to the watering hole, as well as the rest of the students who actually did something with their life besides drink on the weekends. 

Emma stuck to her spot at the bar, Roni flirting with her and very clearly showing off her bar moves by flipping bottles and tossing glasses. (Robin tried too, but he broke a bottle of Vodka and decided he didn’t want his dad cutting his paycheck.) Roni was sliding finished orders across the bar and pulling one of those “pouring drinks using an unreasonable amount of glasses” moves before she handed Emma a shot of something she called ‘her own special recipe.’ 

“I call it Forbidden Fruit.” Roni winked. Emma chuckled before she took the shot and shook off the rush of strong alcohol.

“Why does it taste like apples?” 

“Part of the recipe is apple cider that we make ourselves at home. Pops has this huge apple tree.” Roni explained.

“So your house is covered in things with apples on them?” Emma asked.

“That and wheat, for some weird-ass reason my mom hasn’t told me yet.” Roni shrugged. “What do you think?”

“I think you need to gimme another one of these.” Emma shook the shot glass around and Roni chuckled, grabbing the glass and putting it away before she grabbed another of the shots she’d just prepared. 

Just then, a huge crowd of guys walked into the bar, crowding the place up to capacity and making a ridiculous amount of noise. Apparently one of them had just turned 21, so the whole town had to know about it.

They moved towards the bar, Robin giving Regina a wide eyed ‘help’ look when five drink orders were shouted at him at once. 

“Shit.” 

“Go.” Emma leaned up and pressed a kiss to her cheek. The brunette gave her a  smirk and stuck her toothpick back between her teeth before she zipped away to prepare as many drinks as possible. The boys seemed impressed with her speed and style, and pretty soon she was turning the drink preparations into a performance just like she had the whole night so far. 

Emma was enjoying watching the show when an unfamiliar, heavy arm fell across her shoulders and she felt someone behind her.

“Hey there hot stuff.” one of the party-boys leaned down right next to her face, his breath reeking of the beer that he was drinking straight from the bottle.

“Ugh.” Emma groaned.

“What’s a little cutie like you doin’ in a dive like this?” he asked. She rolled her eyes.

“I’m on a date.” she said. 

“I don’t see no one around.” the guy shrugged. “If your boy flakes you could-”

“ _ She  _ is the bartender.” Emma pointed towards Roni. “And if you want another drink tonight I suggest you move your arm now.” 

“Aww come on baby I just-”

“Hey.” Roni slammed her hands on the table to grab Dudebro’s attention. “Get your hands off my girl if you don’t wanna eat that bottle.”

“Oh c’mon I was just havin’ fun.” the guy defended himself. 

“Go do it somewhere else  _ alone. _ ” Roni glowered at him. 

“Aww come on, I’m the birthday boy!” he whined.

“Then maybe you should avoid this being your last.” Regina growled, looking ready to pounce him over the bar. 

“Woah, woah, alright...sorry...shit.” the guy dropped his arm off of Emma’s shoulder and walked away. 

“Thanks.” Emma sighed. Roni watched the guy leave silently before she grabbed the rag that was tucked into her belt and pulled it out. 

“Locksley.” she shouted to Robin, who looked at her questioningly, suddenly getting a rag thrown at his face (and nearly eating it.) “I’m taking my break.”

“Oh but-” he tried to argue, but she hopped over the bar (rather than walking around it) and grabbed Emma’s hand. 

“Come on.” she said, tossing Emma a smirk over her shoulder as the blonde hopped off the stool to follow her. She lead her through a door in the back and up the stairs, opening another door at the top that lead to a bedroom, flicking on the lights.

“Please tell me this isn’t Locksley’s room.” Emma said.

“Hell no.” Roni chuckled. “I get hammered at work sometimes so they let me sleep it off here.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Emma smiled at her. The brunette shrugged.

“I also stay here sometimes when I really can’t stand my mother.” she said, before she took Emma’s hand again and turned to her fully. “But it has other purposes too…”

“Oh yeah?” Emma said, trying not to swoon at the way Roni was looking at her and leaning in. 

It didn’t take very long, a few seconds really, before she gave in and met her halfway, their lips colliding in a hot and hungry kiss. Emma hand one hand in Roni’s hair while the other slipped under her shirt and started feeling up her abs. She could feel the brunette’s nails scraping hungrily at the back of her dress, probably looking for a way in to touch hot, sweet flesh. 

In Emma’s efforts to pull Roni closer, she inadvertently ended up nearly straddling the brunette’s knee, her dress hiking up her thighs in the process. It was the blonde who started pulling Roni closer towards the bed, never letting their lips lose connection, and nearly stumbling in the attempt to kick her heels off. Luckily Roni’s arms were strong enough to keep her up even if she wasn’t balanced properly (a fact that made Emma want to rip Roni’s clothes off even faster.) 

Pretty soon Emma dropped herself down on the mattress of the bed and pulled Roni down on top of her. The brunette let out a grunt when her bulge accidentally rubbed up against Emma’s leg.

“Sorry…” she looked up at the blonde with something akin to nervousness in her eyes, but it faded away when she saw the seductive little smirk on Emma’s face.

“I’m guessing you didn’t sneak a bottle of something up here in your pants?” she asked, biting her lip when Roni shook her head. “Come here.”

And God, if Roni didn’t want to get serious with this girl before, she definitely did now. 

She pushed herself up, coming up closer to Emma’s face and immediately being pulled into another hot kiss, the blonde’s tongue slipping into her mouth almost immediately and making her moan. She could feel Emma’s lips turn up in a smile against her mouth and had to stop herself from letting out a chuckle. She’d never thought anyone could be  _ this  _ cocky and still be attractive to her. But trust her luck that Emma Swan was the exception to that rule. 

Suddenly she didn’t want to rush this, she wanted to take her time with the blonde, tasting her, learning her body language and what she responded best to. She cursed herself internally when she realised she was catching feelings. But the way Emma’s hand slowly combed through her hair, her own pace slowing to match Roni’s like she suddenly knew what the brunette wanted, made her think that maybe with Emma, catching feelings wouldn’t be so bad. 

She was enjoying taking her time with the blonde, and so was Emma…That is of course until Emma’s phone started ringing in her purse, right next to Emma’s head on the mattress. 

“Ugh.” Emma groaned, reaching for the phone and answering it with a huff. “What?!”

“It’s ten forty-five.” Ruby’s voice came through. “And don’t  _ what _ me, bitch, I just had the best date ever, now get down here and tell me about yours.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Emma sighed, hanging up the phone and giving Roni a sad look.

“Everything okay?” the brunette asked, mild concern written over her face.

“My dad is a dick who’s kind of got me on an eleven O’clock curfew.” Emma sighed. “I have to be home in fifteen minutes.”

“Oh.” Roni frowned.

“I’m sorry...I promise I’m not blowing you off…” Emma said.

“If you were I wouldn’t be complaining.” Roni joked. Emma suddenly laughed and nudged her in the shoulder.

“I really do have to go.” the blonde said when their laughing died down. “But...I had a lot of fun.”

“Watching me work?” Roni asked. Emma leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips.

“And flirting with you, and trying not to swoon when you threatened to murder that guy on his birthday.” Emma grinned. “That was really sweet.”

“Yeah?” the brunette asked, getting a nod from the other girl who was biting her lip as she looked at her. Roni leaned in and kissed her deeply, slowly, her hand gently on her waist in a way that made Emma’s heart beat faster and her breath stutter in her throat. 

“I have to go…” Emma whispered sadly when Roni pulled away. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.” Roni shook her head, cupping Emma’s cheek and kissing her gently again. “Can I see you again?”

“Hell yeah.” Emma smiled, leaning in and pressing one last, lingering kiss to her lips before she tore herself away from the brunette and picked up her purse. “Text me, okay?”

“Yeah…” Roni said as she watched the blonde leave, her heart immediately sinking when she left the room.

* * *

Emma ran out of the bar and sighed in relief when she spotted Ruby’s car already there. She didn’t want to leave. And if she could, she wouldn’t, at all. If she had her way, in fact, she’d probably end up spending the night here with Regina. But if she did that she’d be grounded so hard she probably wouldn’t be able to see the brunette until she left for college - and she didn’t want to risk that, not for one night. 

“Hey.” She said to Ruby as she climbed into the car. She reached over to grab the seatbelt when she looked up and caught sight of Regina, leaning out of the window with a cigarette balanced between her fingers. The brunette’s deep, brown eyes reflected in the moonlight and Emma’s heart skipped a beat when she smirked at her. 

“You ready to go?” Ruby asked. Emma barely heard her, her ears just registering her best friend’s voice as she stared up at the other girl. “Emma?” 

“Huh?” Emma mumbled as she watched Regina pull two fingers up to her lips and press a kiss to them before ‘throwing’ the kiss towards the blonde. “...wow.”

“Oh  _ god. _ ” Ruby rolled her eyes and started the car, stepping on the gas and driving away from the bar. 

“Ruby!” Emma complained. 

“You’ll thank me when you’re not grounded.” her best friend said. “Plus, you two were grossing me out. I had no idea Roni could be so…”

“Cute?” Emma smiled.

“ _ Sappy. _ ” Ruby rolled her eyes. “Good job Swan, I think you broke the resident bad girl.” 

“I really like her Rubes.” Emma sighed.

“What?” Ruby looked towards her friend before she remembered she probably shouldn’t do that with a steering wheel in her hands. 

“I like her. A lot. Like I know this isn’t news because I’ve crushed on her for years now but...you know how you crush on someone and then it turns out they’re not that great in reality?” 

“Yeah?” Ruby nodded.

“She’s like...the opposite of that. Like the complete opposite. She’s like... _ way  _ better than I could have ever imagined.” Emma sighed. 

“Oh shit...Em...are you like...in l-” 

“Don’t...say it.” Emma sighed. “I don’t know yet. Maybe I’m still reeling cause she threatened to kill a guy for me.” 

“Oh shit. How fast did your panties hit the floor?” Ruby asked.

“Not very fast at all, considering you called while we were still...getting there.” Emma rolled her eyes. “Stupid curfew.” 

“You’ll get your chance, I know you will.” Ruby said, knowing it was all she could do at this point to make her best friend feel better. 

“Yeah.” Emma nodded. “Thanks Rubes. I know I give you shit but-”

“But I’m the brightest light in your life and you would be lost without me, I know.” Ruby said with a cocky smirk. 

“Don’t make me regret saying it, asshole.” Emma teased. 

“Me? Make you regret things? Never!” Ruby waved her off playfully. “At least, not while you’re still sober.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Emma rolled her eyes. “How’d your date go?”

“Oh uhhh.” Ruby blushed. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“Did you hit that?” Emma asked.

“No...I...may have agreed to work our way towards a steady relationship.” Ruby said slowly. 

“ _ What?!” _

“Oh bite me, Swan!”

* * *

“Hey, did you have fun?” her father asked from the couch the second she walked in. 

“Oh yeah, loads.” Emma nodded. “Thought you guys would already be in bed.”

“Oh we just finished watching a movie.” Mary Margaret said as she got up, putting the popcorn bowl in the sink. “Oh, David, could you take out the trash?”

“Ugh” her father groaned as he got up, stretching and yawning loudly. Just then, Emma phone vibrated in her purse and she pulled it out.

_ Regina: Can you sneak out? _

_ Emma: What? _

_ Regina: Look out your window.  _

With a glance out of the window behind the couch, she could see the familiar sleek black Lexus parked outside. Spurred on by the rush of excitement, she shut the curtain and turned around. 

“Hey dad, you look exhausted.” she said.

“I am.” he nodded, scratching the back of his head. 

“You go hit the hay.” she said, patting his shoulder. “I’ll take care of the trash, okay?”

“Oh.” he gave his daughter a pleased smile. “Well thanks, Emma.”

“No problem. Go. Sleep. Snore the night away.” she said. He chuckled, pulling her in and kissing her on the head, ruffling up her hair before he let her go and made his way upstairs. 

“Goodnight.” he said. 

“Night dad!” Emma said.

“I’ll be up soon honey.” Mary Margaret said as she finished washing up the wine glasses they had used. Emma picked up the trash bag from the bin and tied it up, making her way to the door when…

“Emma…” Mary Margaret called gently. Emma turned around and looked at her. “Wherever you’re going, please be careful. And I want to meet this whoever it is soon, seeing as you’re clearly so serious about them.” 

“How did you-”

“You  _ never  _ offer to take out the trash, Emma, in fact you put more effort into avoiding it than you would need to do so. The fact that your father is the highest ranking officer in this town and can’t figure that out is...well not very comforting frankly.” her mother shrugged. “Be careful, and please don’t spend the whole night out. I can only cover for you so much.”

Emma nodded and gave her mother a small smile. “Thank you.”

“Go. Be careful.” Mary Margaret said, watching as her daughter left the apartment as quietly as possible. 

She waited a few minutes, enough time for Emma to have gone and come back had she been truthful about her actions, and then opened and closed the front door again, she climbed up the stairs, opening and shutting the door to her daughter’s bedroom with a ‘goodnight Emma!’ called in between them for good measure before she went to her and her husband’s bedroom, finding David already in bed and turning to look at her sleepily.

“All good?” he asked.

“Go back to sleep.” she nodded, kissing him on the cheek before she herself got ready for bed. 

* * *

Emma climbed down the stairs and left her apartment building, dropping the trash bag next to the trash can in the opening to the alley right next to the building before she ran towards the Lexus, jumping into the passenger side seat, the door having already been opened for her. Regina had started driving before she could even close the door.  


“How much time do we have?” Regina asked.

“Not very long...but long enough.” Emma smirked at her. “Just take us somewhere no one can see us, okay?”

“You got it babe.” Regina grinned at her, getting a kiss on her cheek as Emma put on her seatbelt. 

And if they hadn’t been shooting out of Emma’s street like a bullet, they would have noticed someone watching them from the other side of the street, and the promptly running towards Emma’s apartment. 

“He didn’t catch on did he?” Regina asked as she sped through the streets of Storybrooke towards the woods. 

“Clueless.” Emma shook her head. She was getting excited, the ideas of what she wanted to do to the girl driving beside her rushing through her head and making her even more anxious to get to where they were going. It got to the point where she couldn’t help herself, and her hand easily slipped over Regina’s thing and close to her crotch, inching closer to her bulge by the second. 

“Woah, Emma!” Regina looked down and then back up quickly to keep her eyes on the road. 

“Can you handle it?” Emma asked, a devilish smirk on her face as she cupped Regina’s length and palmed it gently.

“Fuck.” Regina groaned.

“Is this what a gear shift feels like?” Emma teased. Regina groaned and tried to focus on her driving as much as she could while Emma’s hand was working her over. Thankfully, the spot she was aiming for was close by, and they got there in a few minutes.

“Backseat?” Emma asked, already climbing over there when Regina nodded to her. The brunette climbed in after her and, after some fumbling and shifting, ended up straddling the blonde as she lay across the backseat of the lexus. 

“Tight fit.” Regina said as Emma pushed her leather jacket off her shoulders. 

“I bet it will be.” Emma winked. Regina scoffed and shook her head.

“Dirty girl.” she teased as the blonde pulled her down and attached their lips together. Hands instantly found their way up her shirt and Regina groaned into the kiss when Emma’s hands cupped her bra-clad breasts and scratched lightly. “Tease.”

“Touch me.” Emma sighed against her lips and kissed her deeply again. Regina’s hands went to her thighs and hiked up her dress, eyes going dark as they caught sight of her black lacy underwear. “Please, Regina, we don’t have much time.” 

“I got you.” Regina sighed, leaning in and kissing Emma deeply, her hands going up as she hooked her fingers into the waistband of the blonde’s panties and pulled them down. They shifted around a little until Emma’s legs were wrapped around Regina’s waist and her underwear was pushed out of the way. It was cramped, but Regina kissed a spot on Emma’s neck and down her chest before she lowered herself down even further and gently slipped her tongue in between Emma’s wet folds, taking a taste of the blonde for the first time. 

“Regina…” Emma moaned. She smirked against hot skin as she pushed herself closer to the blonde’s center, kissing her stiff, twitching bud before she wrapped her lips around it and sucked gently. “Oh...God.”

“You taste good, baby.” Regina said before she started sucking on Emma’s aching clit again, the blonde’s thighs nearly wrapping themselves around her head in response. She flicked her tongue against it and suddenly Emma’s hips shot upwards, all but crashing into Regina’s face in the process. 

“Shit! Sorry...I just-”

“It’s okay…” Regina grinned. “That’s when you know it’s good.”

“So good…” Emma sighed. 

“Don’t hold back baby.” Regina said, looping her arms around Emma’s thighs as she dove back in, taking in another taste of her rich, sweet juices. 

It didn’t take long, with Regina’s tongue working her over in a way that no one ever had, and soon, Emma’s hands were gripping the brunette’s hair hard, her hips writhing against Regina’s face as she moaned her name over and over. 

“I’m so close!” Emma cried. And Regina, having been waiting for that moment, gently slipped two fingers inside of the blonde’s entrance, wrapped her lips around her clit again, and curled her fingers upwards as she started to suck on the stiff bud between her lips, continuously moving her fingers in a ‘come hither’ motion.

It was like flicking a switch, suddenly the tension building up in Emma’s lower belly snapped, and she let out a long, loud moan as she climaxed, unable to stop her hips from grinding against Regina’s face as her body shook and trembled. 

“Fuck…” Emma sighed when she finally rode out her climax and Regina pulled away. 

“How was that?” the brunette chuckled. Before she knew what hit her, Emma grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her down into a searing hot kiss. 

“Perfect.” she answered when she let Regina’s shirt go. She trailed her hands down the brunette’s soft breasts and hard abs until she reached the button and zipper of her jeans, looking up into brown eyes in a silent request. 

“You want to?” Regina asked. 

“Do you have protection?” Emma asked. 

“Yeah.” Regina nodded.

“Then I want to...please.” Emma asked. Regina gave her a small smile and nodded, Emma taking that as her cue to start unfastening the brunette’s jeans and pushing them down as far as she could, biting her lip when caught sight of the bulge straining in Regina’s tight briefs. 

“Damn…” she gulped. 

“We don’t have to if you’re-” Regina started to say, but Emma’s eyes shot up to hers, dark and full blown and hungry and Regina knew she didn’t even consider backing out an option. The way Emma was looking at her, she could feel herself twitch in her briefs just thinking about how much the blonde beneath her wanted her. 

So she shut up, and reached to where she kept the condoms, quickly grabbing one as Emma’s fingers hooked into her briefs’ waistband and pulled them down gently, revealing Regina’s length and nearly gasping when she realised how hard the brunette really was. 

Regina slipped the condom on quickly, and Emma moved her hand to grip her length and stroke it gently, getting a groan from the brunette as she dropped her head back. 

“Fuck...Emma…” she sighed. 

“You’re so hard.” Emma said, her other hand slipping under Regina’s shirt and holding her steady. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anything this big.” 

“Yeah well I’ve never had a girl this hot, so I guess we’re even.” Regina chuckled. Emma rolled her eyes and squeezed her hand ever so gently, getting Regina to moan again.

“Don’t flirt with me when your cock’s in my hand, babe, not if you don’t want to get teased.” Emma winked at her.

“Shit, I am right, though.” Regina sighed, grabbing the hand that was on her abs gently and leaning forward, pressing a kiss to Emma’s lips. “Can I?”

Emma smiled. “Oh yeah.”

The blonde took her hand away, and Regina gripped her own length, shifting a little to position herself properly before she ran the tip through Emma’s wet folds, finding her entrance again and pushing in gently. 

“Oh!” Emma moaned. 

“You okay?” Regina whispered gently.

“So good.” Emma moaned. Regina pushed in a little further, going as slow as possible despite how good it all felt. She went in as far as she thought she could and stopped for a second, looking Emma over to make sure she was okay. When the blonde opened her eyes she nodded at her. “It’s okay...I’m okay...You can move.”

“Okay.” Regina nodded as she slowly started moving her hips, getting a reaction from Emma instantly. 

“Oh god.” Emma sighed, pulling Regina closer by her shirt and kissing her deeply. “Please go faster...It feels so good.”

“Yeah?” Regina asked, smiling at the blonde when she got a nod in response and slowly picked up the pace. “Like that?”

“More.” Emma sighed.

“You sure?” Regina asked.

“Regina, I love how careful you’re being, but  _ good God.  _ If you’re going to fuck me, I need you to do it like you mean it.” Emma said, getting a chuckle from the brunette as Regina shook her head.

“If you insist.” she said, moving her arms so that she had a better angle of support before she sped up even faster, putting more strength into each thrust, her hands gripping at the leather seats beneath them as she felt the pleasure coil up in her lower belly. “Fuck…”

“Yeah…” Emma gasped. “Oh God...just like that…”

Another tug on her shirt and Regina was pulled down, Emma’s arms wrapping themselves around her when she came just short of landing right on the blonde, her arms slipping out from under her and catching herself on her elbows, leaving just a hair’s breadth of space between her and the blonde’s lips. In a second Emma closed up that space, connecting their lips in a hot kiss as Regina swallowed every last moan that left the blonde’s mouth as the pressure built up inside of each of them. She could tell, by the way Emma’s grip on her shirt tightened, and the way she was clenching around her, that the blonde was close. And it was just as well too, at this pace, she wasn’t too far off herself either. 

Emma’s hips met hers thrust for thrust, and the heat in the car reached almost unbearable heights, but neither one of them noticed as within a few minutes they both tumbled over that sweet edge together, Regina’s name on Emma’s lips like a prayer as she rode out her orgasm.

“Wow…” Emma sighed, her head dropping against the seat when she finally came down from her high. 

“Yeah you can say that again.” Regina said. 

“...Wow.” Emma said again after a beat, getting a chuckle from Regina as the brunette pressed a kiss to Emma’s temple. 

“So...I was thinking…” Regina began slowly. 

“Yeah?” Emma asked. 

“Well...I’ve never really done this this before or anything but...I was thinking maybe we should-”

“Shh.” Emma sat up suddenly. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Regina asked. 

“I think someone’s out there.” Emma said nervously. 

“It’s probably the wind baby.” Regina said. “No one else knows where we are.” 

“I thought I saw a shadow or…” Emma peered out of the tinted window, squinting her eyes to try and see better when all of a sudden she let out a gasp. “Regina, that’s my dad outside the car!” 

“Oh shit!”

* * *

_ Back At The Swan Loft… _

Mary Margaret had just come up to bed, her husband was sleeping soundly, and she was trying to do the same and not worry too much about Emma. She knew that letting her sneak out of the house was dangerous, but letting her suffocate and be miserable was...something she couldn’t allow. Her daughter’s happiness meant too much to her and if sneaking out was the only way that Emma could see this...whoever it was...that she seemed to like so much, then she’d just have to let her do it from time to time. It’s not like she was a little kid anymore, she was eighteen and would soon be moving out for college, for God’s sake.

As she was trying to push her own thoughts away so she could get some sleep, she heard the main door of the apartment building open. She figured it must have been the downstairs neighbor and turned over, closing her eyes to finally go to sleep. 

Suddenly, she jumped when someone started banging loudly on the front door. 

“Huh, what?” Her husband mumbled in confusion as he too was woken up by the loud knocking. She was already out of bed and running down the stairs to see who it was. 

“Sheriff Swan! Sheriff Swan!” a familiar voice called. She opened the door to find a panicked, frantic Killian in front of her. 

“Killian?” She asked. 

“I need to speak with Sheriff Swan! Now!” he said. 

“Killian?” David asked as he came down the stairs, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s about Emma!” Killian said. Mary Margaret’s eyes went wide.

“Killian, Emma’s asleep in her room.” David waved him off. “How she can sleep through this noise is another question. But she’s here.”

“No, she’s not.” Killian shook his head. “I just saw her!”

“Of course you just saw her, you had a date with her, Killian...have you been drinking?”

“No!” the boy shook his head. “Emma has been! We didn’t have a date tonight, she broke up with me earlier this week! And she’s been hanging out with that... _ Roni  _ girl ever since! She was with her the whole night tonight at the bar! And I just saw her sneaking out of here and into her car to go do...well...God knows what!” 

“Wait, who’s Roni?” David asked. 

“The Mills girl.” Killian said.

“I thought they only had two daughters.” David said. 

“They do.” Mary Margaret nodded. “Regina, she goes by Roni now.” 

“Why?” David asked.

“Does it matter? Emma’s sneaking around with her as we speak!” Killian said. “I know she comes from a good family, Sheriff Swan, but this girl is bad news! She works at the bar and she’s always smoking, you never see her in class except, as luck would have it, when word got out that Emma had broken up with me!” 

“Killian, I understand you’re worried but I think you must have been seeing things, I heard Mary Margaret say goodnight to Emma before she came to bed, right honey?” David asked, looking at his wife who was suddenly very interested in her powder blue bed slippers. 

“Well…” Mary Margaret sighed. “Not...exactly.”

“What?” 

“Emma was going to sneak out. I figured if I tried to stop her she’d only try harder and possibly get herself hurt in the process so…” she trailed off.

“You let her go?!” David demanded. “And you covered for her?!”

“David she is  _ eighteen  _ she’ll be out on her own soon enough, you treat her like a child and it is not fair!” Mary Margaret argued. 

“We’ll talk about this later, Killian, do you know where Roni might have taken her?” the Sheriff turned to the boy in front of him.

“I don’t know, but I saw which direction they were heading.” Killian said. 

“Come on, let’s go.” David said, grabbing his jacket from the hook by the door and sticking his feet in his boots, slamming the door on his way out.

* * *

_ The Woods… _

“Are you sure they came here?” David asked.

“I don’t know, but would you be surprised?” Killian asked. “God knows what that girl has in mind for Emma…”

“Just focus on finding them.” David said. 

“Is...is that a car?” Killian asked. “Oh  _ no. _ ”

“What?” David asked looking over where the boy was indicating.

“Even her  _ car  _ is cooler than me!” the boy whined. 

“Killian, buck up!” David said, approaching the car. The boy did, in fact, not buck up. He, instead, elected to hide behind a tree in case Roni saw him, because he was scared of her. 

“Emma!” David knocked on the window of the car. He could see movement, but with the tint of the windows in the back seat and how dark it was he couldn’t see who was inside quite as clearly. “Emma Swan you come out of this car right now.” 

The door swung open and Emma looked up like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Oh...hi dad...Boy I really never got over that sleepwalking phase when I was twelve, huh?” she tried.

“Well then maybe I should bolt your bedroom door shut.” David threatened. “Get out of this car and go to mine. Now.”

“Dad, I just-” Emma tried to explain. 

“We will talk about this when we get home.” David said before looking at Roni. “And  _ you  _ are coming with us, that is if you don’t want to get arrested.”

“For what?” Roni asked. 

“How about serving liquor to a minor, for one, or hell  _ being  _ a minor who isn’t even allowed to sell liquor!” David warned. “Follow us home, Regina.” 

“It’s Roni!” both her and Emma spoke up.

“Whatever, just do it.”

* * *

“Emma Swan, you are in  _ massive  _ trouble.” David said.

“ _ Massive. _ ” Killian repeated.

“Hey Killian?” Emma gave him a sickly sweet smile.

“Yes, love?” he gave her a dopey, hopeful grin.

“Go fuck yourself with a rusty pipe.” she said, rolling her eyes and turning to her father. “You can berate me all you want, but if you don’t get rid of  _ him  _ first, You are legitimately dead to me.”

David stared his daughter down for a moment but Emma didn’t even flinch, and he knew that despite how pissed he was at her, she was right about this one. 

“Killian, go home.” he said.

“But I-”

“You heard your boyfriend, Killy-Willy, run home to mama.” Roni said. 

“That’s enough out of you.” David warned her,

“Hah.” Killian stuck his tongue out at her. 

“Real mature.” Emma rolled her eyes. 

“Killian, I mean it, you’re not needed here.” David said. “Go home and get some sleep.”

“But I want to...I thought…” Killian tried, but deflated when he saw that despite his efforts, he wasn’t going to get anywhere. He turned around and left the apartment without another word. 

“Thank god.” Emma rolled her eyes, turning around and plopping down on the couch next to Regina. 

“You two.” David crossed his arms. “I don’t even want to  _ know  _ what you were thinking. That’s  _ if  _ you were thinking at all. Emma you know better than to do something like this!”

“ _ This  _ is the only freaking thing I  _ can  _ do. I’ve begged you for  _ months  _ to lift my curfew or at least extend it!” Emma complained. 

“I would! If you were still dating someone trustworthy like Killian!” David crossed his arms. “I can’t believe you broke up with him just to date this...delinquent!” 

“Delinquent?!” Roni scoffed. 

“Dad, that is really unfair!” Emma argued. 

“The world isn’t fair, Emma.” David stated. “And you need to learn that and get over this phase you’re going through-”

“Woah, what phase?” Emma asked “Please tell me you don’t mean being with a girl.”

“Well, partly at least, yes.” David crossed his arms. “That and this whole rebellious streak you’re on which probably has everything to do with it.” 

“That is  _ it! _ ” Emma snapped, standing up and glaring David in the eyes. “I am  _ done  _ with you and your  _ bullshit!” _

“You watch your t-”

“ _ No. _ ” Emma all but screamed. “I have had it up to here with you, and your overbearing dictatorship! How the  _ fuck  _ do you even expect me to be able to act like an adult when all you do is try to hold me back from doing whatever I want to do! Good God, I bet you’d try to apply for college for me if you could!”

“I just-”

“I don’t care!” Emma snapped. “Do you hear that?  _ I. Do. Not. Care.  _ what you ‘just’ want.  _ I  _ want you to stop being such a jerk! I want to be able to go out and be  _ trusted  _ to come home without a curfew, and if I decide to stay out all night I want you to trust that I know not to get myself in trouble! And for fuck’s sake - I wanna be able to choose who I date  _ myself.  _ I really honestly don’t care that you think the sun rises out of Killian’s asshole every day, if you like him so much  _ you  _ can marry him! I don’t. I like Regina! I have for the past four fucking years! Four years is not a phase, dad, it’s me being too goddamn worried about what  _ you  _ think for me to be able to live  _ my  _ life because I’ve had to live to your ridiculous standards! And guess what? I hate it! I’ve hated it for the last four years but you’ve had your head shoved so goddamn far up your ass you can’t even see that! I mean Jesus fucking Christ man, you make me wish I was never fucking born!”

David stood there, fuming, as Emma dropped herself down on the couch again. 

“Now you hang on just a minute-”

“No, David.” Mary Margaret spoke up, getting her husbands attention.

“Mary Margaret?” David looked at her questioningly. 

“She’s right.” his wife shrugged. “It’s been like this ever since she was born but I hoped you’d ease up by the time she graduated. I was wrong. You’re smothering her! And what breaks my heart is that I went along with it for the longest time because I thought it’s what was best for  _ my daughter  _ but now I see that she’s been unhappy, David. For  _ four  _ years. That’s a long time for a teenager. And it’s all because of you.”

“Me?! I was just-”

“Yes, you! David, for God’s sakes the girl dated a boy she didn’t even like just to get you off her back, how do you think that must have felt? You all but forced her into a relationship with him. Is that what you want? For her to be unhappy as long as you’re satisfied? Because if it is David...if things keep going the way they are...God help me I don’t know if I can stay in this marriage and watch you treat our daughter like this much longer.” 

David visibly deflated, the weight of his wife’s words suddenly hitting him like a ton of bricks. He frowned, looking over to his daughter before glancing at Roni and then back to Emma. 

“I was just trying to keep you safe.” 

“I’m sorry, dad, you can’t keep protecting me from the world forever.” Emma shrugged. 

“I know...I just...I know...I’m sorry…” he looked down at his feet and gulped. “Let’s just...forget about tonight, okay? We should all get some sleep.” he said, turning around and leaving the room without another word. 

Emma sighed, dropping her head against the backrest of the couch. Now that she got all of that off her chest, she felt...drained. 

“You okay?” Regina asked.

“Fine.” Emma shrugged, giving her a small smile. “I’m sorry you had to find out like that.”

“Find out what?” Regina asked.

“That I’ve been crushing on you for four years?” Emma chuckled. 

“Oh...you meant that?” Regina asked.

“Why would I say it if I didn’t?”

“Well...maybe to get your dad off your back?” Regina shrugged. “At least...that’s what I thought you...you really meant it huh?”

“Of course I did.” Emma said, gently taking Regina’s hand. “This is why I didn’t wanna play any games with you. Four years...and you finally asked me out. I didn’t wanna play games when I could just...be with you.” 

“Can I tell you something?” Regina asked. 

“Of course.” Emma shrugged.

“I’ve like you for four years too...But with everything going on with my life, my mom, changing my name and my whole...well..everything about me frankly...It hasn’t exactly been easy...I was kind of in the closet for a while and then something happened with this guy...I wasn’t...great. I kind of wish I had the balls to talk to you in Freshman year now, maybe we could have both avoided dating dicks.” Regina chuckled. 

“Better late than never?” Emma shrugged. 

“Uh, girls?” Mary Margaret piped up. “I don’t wanna interrupt but, you do realise that it takes a huge commitment to like someone for four years, right?”

“What do you mean?” Emma asked. 

“I mean when I crushed on your father for just  _ one  _ year before we started dating, I kind of knew I was in love with him. I mean the circumstances were different and we were close friends before we dated but…” the oldest Swan woman shrugged. “I still knew. When you spend such a long time having feelings for someone and not really being interested in anyone else, it stops being a crush and starts being...well...love.” 

“L-” Emma nearly swallowed her tongue and Regina just stared at her wide eyed. 

“Oh well, goodnight girls!” Mary Margaret said with a grin before she followed her husband upstairs. 

“Love…” Emma said softly again after her mother was gone

“Yeah…” Regina sighed. Emma looked at her and Regina looked up to meet her eyes. 

“Do...do you think…?” Emma trailed off. Regina looked her in the eyes for a brief moment, weighing the word over in her head before she gave the blonde a small smile, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. 

“Oh yeah.” 

_ The End. _

**Author's Note:**

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